Forbes Magazine ranks Charlotte ... (Gastonia, Washington: fit in, crime, how much)

[ladyhen]

What a weird combination of cities. Modesto, CA, while as hot as Hades and home to the like of Scott Peterson, has a cute little downtown and isn't a horrible place. Totally not buying this list of "misery".

[TheEmissary]

Originally Posted by BarbJ

I hate to disillusion you, Em, but Charlotte has a great problem with ozone . The reason many people are not bothered by it is that is invisible and mainly bothers those with lung disease. Were you here last summer when we had the incredible heat wave? If you were, you must remember the Bad Air Quality warnings that were on the daily news. Here are a few articles I've pulled up for you.

Clean Air for the Charlotte Area: An Action Agenda

SELC helps Charlotte region meet air quality goals

In response to the Charlotte area’s recent ozone “nonattainment” designation and the accompanying deadline for cleaning the region’s air, the Southern Environmental Law Center in 2006 released Clean Air for the Charlotte Area: An Action Agenda, and an update in May, 2007 providing both a “report card” on efforts to address air quality in the area and a “roadmap” that citizens, the business community and local officials in the Charlotte area can use to clean up tailpipe and smokestack pollution.
(broken link) Click image above to view a PDF of the report.

In April, 2004, seven counties in the Charlotte area (Cabarrus, Gaston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Union and York, SC) were designated by the Environmental Protection Agency as being in “nonattainment” of the ozone pollution standard. As a result, state and local officials have three years to develop a plan to address the ozone problems by a 2010 deadline or risk sanctions, including the loss of federal highway construction funds.


25 Worst Ozone Level Communities
1. Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA
2. Bakersfield, CA
3. Fresno, CA
4. Visalia-Tulare-Porterville, CA
5. Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX
6. San Diego-Imperial County, CA
7. Washington, DC/Baltimore
8. Charlotte Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC

Barb - Where I came from "everyday" was a bad air quality day. Maybe not in ozone levels, but in probably every other air pollution category. I am a gardener and smoker and last years heat never slowed me down a bit. I'd go out and weed in the middle of the day, work for half an hour and come on for a glass of water and to cool off a bit. I don't understand people who come down here and think its soo.. hot! It's probably 5 degrees hotter than NY with a 10% increase in the humidity. Big Deal!! When my plants need me I'm there!

[BarbJ]

That last post makes me feel like a real harpy. Sorry, Em.

[TheEmissary]

Originally Posted by BarbJ

That last post makes me feel like a real harpy. Sorry, Em.

Barb - Your info is very informative and welcome. I just wonder if the coal plants in the area and to the west of us are the major cause of the ozone. Auto use, while high, would pale compared to the LA region where it is responsible for the high ozone levels. On a per square mile basis, Charlotte's auto pollution should be much lower than many regions. Oh well, just build that nuclear reactor next to my house if Duke will give me half-price electric service - I probably already "glow in the dark"!

[BarbJ]

Well, Em, you are lucky. I too am an avid gardener don't complain about the heat either, but since I have chronic lung disease, I don't stay out in my garden all day when there's a red/purple or orange alert. If I try to, my husband (who for some reason that I can't understand doesn't like middle-of-the-night emergency room visits) comes out, sneaks up on me, grabs me, carries me inside and shackles me to my computer.

BTW, a lot of our ozone problem is due to the topography of the area; we are in a depression.

[TheEmissary]

Originally Posted by BarbJ

Well, Em, you are lucky. I too am an avid gardener don't complain about the heat either, but since I have chronic lung disease, I don't stay out in my garden all day when there's a red/purple or orange alert. If I try to, my husband (who for some reason that I can't understand doesn't like middle-of-the-night emergency room visits) comes out, sneaks up on me, grabs me, carries me inside and shackles me to my computer.

BTW, a lot of our ozone problem is due to the topography of the area; we are in a depression.

Well Barb - That may not be a bad thing -as long as you get to "shackle" him once in a while.! Maybe we need to start a Charlotte gardening thread. Well, I'm going to go back to painting the foyer and hallway - the cats absolutely refuse to give me a hand!

[jaynarie]

I moved from a suburb of Flint, MI to a suburb of Charlotte, NC. I must be drawn to miserable cities, LOL.

I can see Flint as being miserable (empty buildings, factories, houses, schools, retail stores, half of a shopping mall). Everyone is fleeing (thank you, General Motors). But, Charlotte? No so much.... Weather is way better, unemployment is WAY better. Though traffic is nothing in comparison!!!

[anifani821]

Originally Posted by BarbJ

Bravo!!!

Maybe this ranking will scare people away, thereby stunting Charlotte's growth! We'll see our schools, traffic, pollution, etc. improve. (BTW, no one has mentioned that Charlotte is the 7th worst U.S. city for asthmatics.)

Yes, maybe everyone will run from the misery here!!!!

We also have real, ongoing and insidious damage from Acid Rain, something most people do not realize. The air quality here is not so pristine, sadly.

[BarbJ]

Shackling him --uhmm I hadn't thought of that, Em.

Just to let you know why I don't complain about the heat in Charlotte, here's a photo of Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis where I'm from.

[anifani821]

Originally Posted by TheEmissary

Barb - Your info is very informative and welcome. I just wonder if the coal plants in the area and to the west of us are the major cause of the ozone. Auto use, while high, would pale compared to the LA region where it is responsible for the high ozone levels. On a per square mile basis, Charlotte's auto pollution should be much lower than many regions. Oh well, just build that nuclear reactor next to my house if Duke will give me half-price electric service - I probably already "glow in the dark"!

Actually, both the acid rain and the air quality are influenced by convection from the North. I will see if I can find a link so we can all share in more miserable statistics about Charlotte, HEE HEE HEE.

And btw, Em and Barb, my DH is reading this thread, and since I, too, am a gardener, he wants to know about the shackles.